We are knitting the Elegantly Simple Triangular Shawl by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer.
Buy the pattern, pick up some lace-weight yarn and the appropriate needles and join us!
Sign up here

Friday, May 05, 2006

Photos, Lifelines, Yarn

I love reading the posts and seeing the progress and yarns! Mary, I especially can't wait to see how yours looks in Margaret's Black and Grey in a Rainbow World (think I have that name correct!) It is on my list as one of the next yarns to purchase ;)

For those without digital cameras - if you have a scanner with your computer, you can scan a picture of your work. If you don't have any photo software on your computer, there are several on line ones that will help you edit and resize your pictures (and you will want to resize them!) Just a thought.

A tip I learned for lifelines in a lace knitting workshop I took, was to use another long circular needle as your lifeline, preferably a smaller size than what you are knitting with. That way, if you have to rip back to the lifeline, your stitches are already on a needle - sometimes easier than having the stitches on a thread or another yarn. That is what I have been doing. Granted, I have a lot of circular needles (grin) It does not work real well with very fine laceweight yarn, though, as it is a bit to heavy

Someone asked about alpaca yarn. I am using handspun alpaca laceweight and I am not sure I am crazy about the way it is looking. I also did a little wet blocking last night to see for sure before I go any farther. I am not getting the stitch definition I want (have done this on two different needles sizes) But I love the look of Eve's and she is using alpaca, too. I sampled with some of my handspun Corriedale, too, but it was to crimpy a fleece and to lively a yarn so that even with some heavy blocking, it just wanted to bounce into a funny shape.

I have been trying to give myself time to knit at least 6 rows each day, during the time I am praying for our friend, Dale. It doesn't sound like a lot of knitting, but in a crowded day it makes you feel as though you are accomplishing something of it, and as the rows get longer it does take a little time.

3 Comments:

Cary, remember that shawl I was making with my homespun merino/silk? I wasn't completely happy with it and haven't finished it. I think it would have turned out much nicer with a yarn that was more uniform. I'm going to swatch a merino/silk sample I have here and compare the results. If I like the new yarn better, I'll frog the shawl. I know that if it bugs me while I'm making it, it will bug me forever.

Oh.. I am indeed using an alpaca yarn, but it's cobweb doubled and so it's about laceweight. I'm using size 6 needles with the yarn. With the single strand, even with smaller needles, the pattern just didn't show up at all.

Cary, I like your circular needle/lifeline tip. If my other needles ever arrive, that's the route I will go if it will work with tencel as I fear not seeing a stitch on the lifeline, continuing on and discovering at blocking time that I've "dropped" a stitch. Wonderful tip!